There many ways to skin a cat. And this is one way I’ve seen how it worked for many.
Step 1: After graduating, when looking for your first job, consider a sales role to develop skills as a promoter. Being a good promoter will help you immensely in your HR career. If possible, choose a sales job that promotes services rather products, so you can train better in consultative selling. Hold this job for a minimum of 1 year.
Step 2: With your sales experience, you can now approach recruitment agencies to be a Recruiter i.e. the Consultant. With 3 years of sales experience, the basic salary range will be from RM3,500 to RM4,500. The real money when working in a recruitment agency is the incentives and commission. Hold this job for a minimum 2 years.
Step 3: With your recruitment agency experience, moving into an internal recruiter role in any organisation will be a breeze. It usually helps if you join industries you specialised in while with the agency. If you are lucky, you might also get a HR Generalist role. where you’ll handle not just recruitment, but a variety of other HR functions.
Step 4: Now you are officially part of a HR team, look for opportunities to experience other functions within HR. A good way is to just volunteer to help out with projects – the L&D team, the payroll team, the engagement team, etc. This will give you a better idea of which HR specialisation you might be interested in the long run. Remember, being a recruiter is still a very good option.
Step 5: Once you’ve decided on your specialisation, start strategising deep learning plans to accelerate your knowledge. Start with one specialisation and then develop a second one. One is never going to be enough. Continue to stick to your specialisations and continue elevate your game with them.
And there you go, one way to skin the HR Career cat.
All the best!
xoxoxo, AuntyHR
